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Hi., Just rejoined the forum as I bought my 8th Corvette. A 1977 that needs love. I am 67 years old and, thankfully, can still do a little work on the car. I traded a 1987 Cadillac Allante for it. Best move i could have made. At least, I thought that until I got the Vette home. The gas smell was over the top and I thought that when I opened the garage, the garage door opener would ignite the fumes. Thankfully that didn't; happen. This was November last year and the old girl is still on Jack stands in the garage. I pulled the gas tank and found a crimp in the metal lines by the gas tank. Replaced it with a section of gas hose. The headlight switch, mufflers, headlights, dash lights, taillights, all were bad. I fixed the taillights, so far. The radiator was half full and I replaced that too. I have been reading and watching U-Tube, and I am learning a lot about C-3's that I didn't need to know with the previous ones I owned, Previously I had...in order 1971, 2001,1995, 1989, 1992. 1990, and 1975. I never worried about the "Bird Cage" in the previous C-3's, it did not seem to be a big deal then. This bird cage seems OK> some rust behind the speaker covers, but not as bad as some I have seen on U-Tube. The body mounts are shot. I found that out on my 70 miles drive home from where I traded the Caddy. 3 Brake rotors are original to 1977. I'll have to drill out the rivet's when I put the new rotors on. Car has 78k miles. Rebuilt Jasper engine, so I am going to try and make it a driver. No concourse car here. Not that I could do it anyway. Body is good and paint faded. I gutted the interior and the floors are good. Shampooed the carpets and they are presentable. Still need tan sun visors. Mine are "Swollen". Power Antenna doesn't work. Would like a rigged one. Drivers side seat belt spring blew out, so I at least need that or a rebuild, if somebody does it. So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Glad to be back in a Vette, even though it sits in the garage. Spring is on the way to Pennsylvania,
and I can't wait!!
I would check the rotors for width and see if they are out of spec. If the old ones can be turned that would be the direction I would go, since 99% of new rotors are of questionable quality.
Welcome to the forum, I too have a 77 model. First those 3 original rotors. Those are the good ones. Keep them.
.do a lot of reading about brakes on here. Hundreds of threads.
And a 77 never had a power antenna. Maybe that's why it doesn't work.
There are a handful of things that are 77 specific. You'll find that out as you go. I live where there is no winter. So I have to drive mine year round.
my 77.
welcome back to the realities of the C3, lol. that said, in my opinion, here is nothing like the style and the ride of the C3 series. To me it is the last real version of "America's sports car" before GM decided to homogenize the corvette line and concentrate on creature comforts and gadgets to appeal to a more upper economic strata. But again that is just my opinion. Having owned 3 C3 generation corvettes in my long lifetime (I'm on the number 3 third generation, now a Deja Vue of my original 69 convertible back in the day) in addition to a variety of others. I honestly believe no other corvette generation attracts attention in a crowd, that isn't just looking for the latest greatest corvette out of curiosity, but one that ultimately always generates the most attention, (second only to the split window 63 for it's uniqueness), because of it's styling. Have a great time working on your new project and ultimately driving it around town. I agree with those previous members who advised trying to keep as much of the original usable parts because unfortunately many of the reproduction stuff that is available lacks in general quality and durability.
77 Vette
